In almost any type of modem machinery, it is desirable to advantageously use space by conserving space when possible. This is especially the case with vehicles. Exemplary of such a situation are vehicle transmissions and vehicle lubricating oil pans. Vehicle transmissions include an oil sump which fits under the valve body of the transmission. In certain cases, the pleat height of the filter may touch the bottom surface of the sump pan or be too close to the bottom surface of the pan to allow unrestricted flow of transmission oil to an oil collection location where an inlet tube withdraws filtered oil from the sump for recirculation in the transmission.
In vehicles, it is desirable to orient the panels of a pleated filter media so as to provide baffles which interrupt the flow within a sump pan away from the inlet tube so that the transmission is not intermittently starved when the vehicle is cornered or otherwise abruptly accelerated. This is accomplished by having filter media which extends in a direction which is perpendicular to or at least has a component which is perpendicular to the direction of the acceleration. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the filter media panels as baffles, it is preferable to have a filter media which is as high as possible within the sump pan, however this interferes with the ability of filtered oil to flow to the inlet tube for recirculation.
While these problems are of apparent significance with respect to transmissions and lubricating oil pans of vehicles, these problems also arise in other types of machinery in which liquids such as lubricating oils, hydraulic oils, fuels and coolant liquids are employed.